Question

Examine the significance of sea ports of India in the promotion of India's foreign trade.

Answer 1

1. India is surrounded by sea from three sides and is bestowed with a long coastline. the emergence of ports as gateways of international trade became important after the coming of the European traders and colonisation of the country by the British.
2. India has 12 major ports and 200 minor or intermediate ports. Indian ports are handling large volumes of domestic, as well as, overseas trade. The capacity of Indian ports increased from 20 million tonnes of cargo handling in 1951 to more than 837 million tonnes in 2016.
3. In most of the cases, hinterland of one port may overlap with that of the other. Marmagao Port, situated at the entrance of the Zuari estuary, is a natural harbour in Goa. It gained significance after its remodelling in 1961 to handle iron-ore exports to Japan. Construction of Konkan railway has considerably extended the hinterland of this port. Karnataka, Goa, Southern Maharashtra constitute its hinterland.
4. The seaports serve as distribution hubs for imported cargo that will later be distributed throughout the interior of the nation. For instance, the port of Mumbai handles dry cargo and bulk commodities like petroleum products.
5. The majority of the regions have modern infrastructure and offer harbour facilities to nearby landlocked nations like Nepal and Bhutan.